Chapter 18 - The First Knock
Daniel did not sleep before the trip to Vermont.
Neither did Olivia.
They left Amelia and Grace in Manhattan under Vance’s most trusted security team and drove north with Ward, a child psychologist, and a family-law specialist.
Daniel spent most of the journey silent.
Olivia understood.
There were no business strategies for meeting a child secretly created with your DNA.
No boardroom instincts could tell him whether he should introduce himself as Daniel, Mr. Mercer, or nothing at all.
Lauren Keane answered the farmhouse door at 3:12 p.m.
She looked at Daniel once and knew.
Her face went white.
“No.”
Daniel stopped on the porch.
“We’re not here to take anything from you.”
Lauren gripped the door.
“Margaret found us?”
“No. Margaret is in custody.”
Lauren looked past him toward Ward.
Then at Olivia.
Finally, she opened the door.
The farmhouse was modest and warm.
Hockey equipment leaned beside the mudroom.
A science project about renewable energy covered the dining table.
Photographs of Ethan filled the walls.
First birthday.
First day of school.
Missing front teeth.
Hockey medals.
Camping trips.
A whole childhood Daniel had never known existed.
Lauren noticed where he was looking.
“He’s happy.”
Daniel’s voice nearly failed.
“That’s all I needed to hear.”
Lauren folded her arms.
“Why are you here?”
“Because we found the records.”
“After twelve years?”
“I didn’t know.”
She studied him.
“You really didn’t?”
“No.”
Olivia stepped forward.
“Margaret used Daniel’s stored biological material without his permission. She did something similar recently.”
Lauren looked toward Olivia.
“Your baby?”
“Our daughter Grace.”
Olivia carefully explained.
Lauren sat down halfway through.
By the end, tears covered her face.
“I thought I was the only one.”
“You weren’t,” Olivia said.
Daniel sat across from her.
“Ethan belongs to you. You raised him. I’m not here to challenge that.”
Lauren wiped her cheeks.
“He asks about his father.”
Daniel looked down.
“What did you tell him?”
“That the donor was anonymous.”
“That’s fair.”
Lauren laughed bitterly.
“Nothing about this was fair.”
“No.”
A school bus stopped outside.
Daniel froze.
Lauren stared toward the window.
“You weren’t supposed to arrive before four.”
“I’m sorry.”
The front door opened.
A boy’s voice called, “Mom?”
Daniel’s heart stopped.
Ethan entered carrying a backpack and hockey stick.
He had Daniel’s eyes.
Not similar eyes.
The same eyes.
Ethan noticed the strangers.
“Who are they?”
Lauren stood.
“Honey, can you put your things upstairs?”
Ethan’s gaze stayed on Daniel.
“Why does he look like me?”
Nobody moved.
Children had an ability to cut through twelve years of adult deception in one sentence.
Lauren’s shoulders collapsed.
“Ethan…”
The boy looked from his mother to Daniel.
“You’re my dad.”
Daniel’s throat tightened.
“I’m your biological father.”
Ethan dropped his backpack.
His expression wasn’t joyful.
It wasn’t angry.
It was stunned.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“You’re Daniel Mercer.”
Daniel blinked.
“You know who I am?”
“Everybody does.”
Ethan stepped backward.
His phone was already in his hand.
“You’re the billionaire from that scandal.”
Lauren moved toward him.
“Honey—”
“So you had another family and just forgot me?”
“No.”
Daniel kept his voice calm.
“I swear to you, I did not know you existed until yesterday.”
Ethan’s face twisted.
“That sounds impossible.”
“It should be impossible.”
Daniel didn’t move closer.
“But someone made decisions using my name and my DNA without telling either of us the truth.”
Ethan looked at Lauren.
“Mom?”
She began crying.
“I was going to tell you when you were older.”
“You lied.”
“I protected you.”
“Same thing adults always say.”
He ran upstairs.
A door slammed.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Lauren whispered, “Give him time.”
Daniel nodded.
He had no right to demand anything else.
Twenty minutes later, Ethan came back downstairs.
His eyes were red.
He stood across the room.
“I have one question.”
Daniel waited.
“Do I have sisters?”
Daniel felt Olivia’s hand slip into his.
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Two baby sisters.”
Ethan swallowed.
“What are their names?”
“Amelia and Grace.”
For the first time, something softer crossed Ethan’s face.
“Do they know about me?”
Daniel almost laughed through the pain.
“They mostly know about milk.”
Ethan tried not to smile.
He failed.
Then headlights appeared outside.
A black SUV stopped near the mailbox.
Lauren’s face changed instantly.
“That’s not anyone I know.”
Ward moved toward the window.
Two men stepped out.
One raised a camera.
The second shouted toward the house.
“Daniel! Is that your secret son?”
Daniel’s blood turned cold.
May you like
The media had found them.
And someone had leaked Ethan’s address.
